Gowon, Ekwueme lead war against religious violence in Nigeria

Posted by admin Latest Politics, Presidency, Yakubu Gowon (1966-75) Monday, June 20th, 2011

Former head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd) and former vice president, Dr. Alex Ekwueme are leading a fresh war against religious intolerance, which has led to violent crisis that has claimed the lives of thousands of innocent Nigerians in some parts of the country.

Other prominent Nigerians involved in this fresh attempt to stamp out religious related violence in the country include the wife of the president, Dame Patience Jonathan and the Lagos State Governor, Raji Fashola. The movement, which is operating under the aegis of United Nigerian Chaplaincy (UNC), has put together a national workshop in Awka, the Anambra State capital, for its members across the 36 states to sensitise and instill in them the required discipline to go about their duties in their respective states.

Speaking in Enugu during the inauguration of the Enugu Command at the weekend, the Chaplain General, Dr. Josiah Ejie said, “we have not asked our men to start work now because we are still going to instill discipline in them; that’s why we are organising a workshop from July 7 – 8 in Awka, Anambra State, after which they will be commissioned to start operating in their various states.”

He described a chaplain as a trained minister of God in uniform to serve the government, the church and the masses. “UNC, like you have seen today, is a body registered to unite all chaplainry body in the nation both Muslims and Christians. “We have the imams, we have emirs, we have the chaplain bishops as you can see here; we have Generals like Yakubu Gowon, the wife of the president, Dame Patience Jonathan, Governor Fashola of Lagos State, Dr. Alex Ekwueme and many more; they are involved in this movement.

“And all we are fighting is to make sure there is order in this nation; make sure that Muslims and Christians live together as one. We are one Nigeria and we should remain one Nigeria. If there are disputes/religious crisis, our chaplains go in; our Muslim chaplain moves to talk to his people, Christian chaplain also moves to talk to his people, and both will live as one. In his speech, the Enugu State Coordinator, Chaplain Joseph Okeke described the UNC as a body charged with the responsibility of bringing together all registered chaplains in Nigeria with a view to fostering unity and coordinate the effective functioning of chaplain activities in Nigeria.

He recalled that since the introduction of chaplaincy in Nigeria in 1984, the functions of chaplains had not only been undervalued but also defocused for lack unity by the various operators, hence, the impact of chaplaincy had not been felt.

He expressed gratitude for the inauguration of the Enugu Command, pledging that, “as trained teachers of God, warfront intercessors, corruption fighters, peace engineers and spiritual advisers to government, we are committed to work with other security agents to ensure that the state is safe for all to reside.”

Okeke further appealed to Governor Sullivan Chime to assist the young command by providing office accommodation as well as operational vehicles.

-Sunwp_posts